As vain as this is going to sound, i love love love this chapter. It was so much fun to write! As it turns out, it's not M like I thought it would be, but just again, as a warning, the chapter after this might be.

Thanks to kiki and Natasha5 for being the only two who reviewed! And sorry to everyone else who didn't, because it's taken me so long to update

The sound was almost
unbearable. And it wouldn't stop. It seemed to echo through Hawk's
head, vibrating in through his ears, and swashing around his brain.
It brought to life a raging fire of anger, stirring it past a boiling
point. Hawk closed his eyes and pursed his lips, desperately trying
to contain his anger. His hands formed tight fists, and every muscle
in his body tensed with rage.

"Are you finished?"
he asked angrily.

Sky Watcher wiped his
eyes, his extended and, in Hawk's opinion, exaggerated laughter
died down. His little brother just sat there, glaring at a tree
opposite where they were, in the woods. Sky loved his little brother,
and had always tried to lead him in the right direction, tried to be
as kind as he could. He was sorry for laughing at him, he could tell
from the look on Hawk Eyes' face that he'd offended his brother,
even hurt his ego and his faith in Sky every so slightly. However,
the way Hawk had told the story of what had happened at the river was
just too much for Sky to handle. It was hilarious, anyone could see
that. The Chieftain's little brother had tried to have sex for the
first time and had been admittedly rejected, by his own fiancé!
Even now, Sky could feel the laughter beginning to bubble back to the
surface. He needed to find a different way to look at this, see the
tragedy that Hawk Eyes was feeling right now. Being rejected by one's
love is never a pleasant thing. But he also knew that not all
rejections were what they seemed.

Hawk blinked and stared
at his older brother. Sky Watcher was looking to the side, away from
Hawk, his face blank as though he meant nothing by what he'd just
said, though it was clear he'd meant quite a lot. Sky shot him a
sideways glance, and the meaning was clear.

"Well then it's not
as bad as you thought!" Sky brought their conversation back,
speaking face to face, instead of out into space as it had been in
their embarrassment.

"How can that be?
I've offended him" Hawk sighed and buried his head in his hands.

Sky put a comforting
hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Nay, brother, listen
to me," he said cheerfully "Think about the way you felt when you
first thought about how two men…mate. Think about how ridiculous it
sounded! Think about how horrific the thought was! But now that
you've found your Rushing Wind, it does not sound so bad at all,
does it?"

Hawk shook his head,
blushing slightly.

"No, see? White men
are ignorant of many things, you know. In their world, love is not
spoken of in so many words, even between a man and a woman." Sky
nodded to himself; as though he could see the answer right in front
of him "You scared him, that's all. Rushing Wind had no idea what
love making was between two men."

Hawk nodded slowly.
This all made perfect sense, actually. That explained why Wind,
though eager to kiss, and even to touch their naked skin together,
was so frightened when Hawk had tried to venture a bit further.

"But what does it
matter now?" asked Hawk, only slightly less upset than before,
"I've scared him off. He's afraid of me. If only you could have
seen the look on his face, I've completely lost his trust."

Sky nodded in
understanding. The two sat for many moments, both lost in
contemplative thought.

"Gain it back" Sky
said finally, a soft smile playing on his lips

"How?" Hawk asked,
words unenthused, still miserable and bewildered.

Sky smiled brightly.

"The same way you
broke it."

Hawk stared at him
unbelieving.

"You've got to be
kidding! Try a stunt like that again? What would that prove?"

"no-no-no, not like
you did before" Sky waved his hands around in front of his face
like the very idea smelled bad "What you have to do is be gentle
about it. Make him yours completely. Give him comfort, beautiful
things, gentle and loving. Fun while bathing comes later"

Hawk laughed for the
first time since the incident with Wind, and shoved Sky playfully.
Getting up, he brushed off his pants and smiled down at his brother
with happy eyes.

"Thank you, Sky
Watcher."

"You are welcome,
Hawk Eyes."

..oo0000oo..

"Come now, Rushing
Wind, it is not that hard." Blooming Flower cooed encouragingly.

"You say! You say!"
Timothy replied, frustrated. He was currently trying to sew two
pieces of hide together for moccasins, and having a hard time with
it. Blooming Flower had intentionally given him something small, and
that which could be made from scraps, but even under her helpful
praise Timothy was useless. He was distracted, desperately depressed
over what had happened in the river, and torn between the fear it had
brought him and the guilt of leaving the caring (not to mention
attractive) man abandoned in the water. But being touched there just
didn't make any sense to Timothy, and he didn't wish to have
anyone ever touch him there again.

"Dear one,"
Blooming Flower touched a caring hand to Timothy's frustrated ones
"what is it that has you so disturbed?"

Rushing Wind sighed,
laying down his project, and looking up at his teacher. He opened his
mouth to explain with what words he had, when he saw Hawk coming
towards them, and his mouth snapped shut, fear spreading over his
features. Blooming Flower looked over her shoulder at her husband's
little brother coming towards them, and put two and two together. She
did not know exactly what was going on, but she knew who it was going
on with.

Hawk took a deep breath
and marched up to his fiancé determinedly, carrying the
carefully wrapped package under his arm. When he reached the two
crafters, he simply laid the packaged before he beloved, and with an
awkward bow, walked away. Now that that was through with, he had
other things to prepare.

Timothy stared down at
the scrap of cloth, wrapped up tightly around something, and tied
with a leather strip. He ventured a glance at Blooming Flower, who
nodded eagerly at him to open it, so he carefully threaded his
fingers through the leather and loosened it. When it was untied, the
packaged opened easily, splaying out and revealing an abundance of
beautiful white flowers.

"Ahhh!" Blooming
Flower exclaimed, "These are the last of the blooms, no more will
come until next spring! I'm sure of it!"

Timothy heard this with
some realization, being better at understanding perhaps than he was
at speaking. He fingered one of the blossoms gently, and then leaned
down to smell them. The fragrance was light, but beautiful, and
Rushing Wind was touched by the gesture.

"This can only mean
one thing." Blooming Flower remarked with her soft smile, and
Timothy regarded her questioningly. She did not answer, however, but
took Wind's hand in her own and lead him into his and Hawk's
tent.

..oo00oo..

Timothy fidgeted where
he sat, tugging at the flap of his newly adorned loin cloth and
sighing with impatience. Blooming Flower and another young girl named
Tender One were on toes and knees, fixing flowers in his hair. Sturdy
Plant was propped up on a fur, weaving a necklace of flowers and
reeds, a bored and mildly annoyed look on her face.

"I am…here."
Timothy said angrily, his point made in his voice, if not in words.

"Hawk Eyes has asked
Rushing Wind to share his bed." Blooming Flower said with a smile
Timothy had never seen before. Tender One giggled.

"Yeah, but does he
know that?" Timothy hated the drawl in Sturdy Plant's voice. He
preferred the soothing, musical way of Blooming Flower, or the
bird-like chirp of Tender One better.

"I am here!" he
said again angrily.

"Stop acting like you
know what's going on!" Sturdy Plant snapped.

"You are….bad."
He managed.

"Shut up, you!" she
growled.

"Sturdy Plant!
Rushing Wind!" Their elder, Blooming Flower, seemed shocked at
their behavior. They both turned away, still simmering in anger they
could not quite express effectively.

"Now, Rushing Wind,
do you know what Hawk Eyes wants?" she asked softly, and simply of
him.

"Hawk Eyes
wants…Rushing Wind." Timothy said, cheeks turning scarlet. He and
Blooming Flower had already had this awkward conversation earlier,
before the other two had come over to help. Blooming Flower had
explained, as best she could, what was expected of him. That Hawk's
gesture of the flowers was a proposal of marriage and (AN: dare I say
it) sex. Timothy had tried his best to explain what had happened in
the river, and in turn Blooming Flower had done her best to explain
what Hawk Eyes had meant by it. There were drawings involved that got
very detailed, but Blooming Flower had been very adamant that Rushing
Wind know what he was getting himself into…or what Hawk was getting
himself into…whatever. Needless to say, Timothy was still terrified
about it, things like that could only be painful. But from what he
could understand of what Blooming Flower had said, it was painful for
girls too, sometimes. She did her best to not just explain the sex,
but also love, and told the word to him, with lots of happy hand
motions and voice, to show him the difference between the two. She
had even taught him to say "no, I don't want this" just incase
he got too scared, or it hurt too much. Timothy was very grateful for
this.

"Just because he
wants you to take his length does not mean he loves you"

"Sturdy Plant!"
Blooming Flower cried out in disapproval. Tender One seemed torn
between an offended gasp and giggling. Timothy just glared.

Timothy knew the
following words from that sentence: He wants you take not loves you.

Well, he got the gist.

Even as Timothy was
trying to remind himself that this was a girl saying these things and
he was supposed to treat women with respect, he was picking up the
wooden figurine of a bear Hawk had given him. It left his hand and
traveled through the air about a foot and a half before it came into
contact with Sturdy Plant's forehead. The necklace she had been
making was thrown aside and in two seconds she was lunging at Rushing
Wind, ready for a fight. But before she could get to him, a hand came
across her face in a hard slap. Everything stopped and all eyes were
on Blooming Flower, who wore a look of distain that sent a shiver
down Timothy's spine.

"Go. Now." She said
to Sturdy Plant, coldly.

The girl obeyed, with
only one lingering glare at Rushing Wind as she left.

"You too, Tender One,
go. Thank you for all of your help"

Tender One smile
awkwardly, nodded, and left. Blooming Flower turned to Timothy with a
heavy sigh. He remembered the words Hawk had used as an apology.

"I am so, so sorry"
he said earnestly.

"I know." Blooming
Flower sighed again with a kind smile, "but you must not let Sturdy
Plant hurt you that way."

"I understand."
Timothy said with a nod.

"I surely hope you
do."

..oo00oo..

I hope this was as fun to read as it was to write! Please REVIEW it means more to me than you know. I have nothing else to do all day

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